In a prior post, I talked about five things that clever PMs should never do — traps that we often fall into as a result of our focus on getting things done and delivering value, while perhaps not being as mindful as we should about leading through influence. Today, I’m going to flip that post on its head and talk about five things that every clever Product Manager should do.

One big problem with Product Managers is that we tend to be somewhat alpha when it comes to our products, and we can be very passionate — not only about our products, but also about our own ideas and beliefs about our users, our market, and ourselves.

There are a lot of things that Product Managers can be accused of “doing wrong” when it comes to our daily jobs. As a wise mentor once told me, if there’s not at least one stakeholder upset with you, you’re not doing your job right. However, that doesn’t mean that we’re without fault.

If we’re honest with ourselves, Product Managers can often wind up doing things that unintentionally set us apart from the teams with whom we work. Often, this results in an increase in randomization and a decrease in the trust that we’ve worked so hard to build and maintain with those from whom we need things on a constant basis. One of the requirements of leading through influence is that we are mindful of how we are approaching our daily duties and what impact our decisions are having on others around us.